Pentagon Blasts Tailhook Probe, Two Admirals Resign

By Melissa Healy
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON

The Navy conducted a poorly coordinated, half-hearted investigation into
sexual assault allegations stemming from the 1991 Tailhook convention, and
did so under the direction of an admiral who apparently doubted that women
belonged in the military, Pentagon investigators said Thursday in their
first major report on the scandal.

The report, released at a press conference by Acting Navy Secretary Sean
O'Keefe, criticized three naval officers and the Navy's second-highest
ranking civilian for their roles overseeing an investigation hobbled by bad
planning, a narrow focus on lower-level officers and an overweening concern
for the Navy's reputation.

As naval investigators turned up evidence of infractions other than sexual
assault, the officials managing the effort failed to widen their probe, the
Department of Defense's Inspector General, Derek J. Vander Schaaf,
concluded. And despite continued prodding from colleagues, the admiral in
charge of the Naval Investigative Service refused to allow interviews of
senior officers, even after it became clear some had witnessed improper
acts and failed to intervene.

As expected, O'Keefe accepted the resignations of two admirals cited in the
report, Rear Adm. Duvall M. Williams, Jr. and Rear Adm. John E. Gordon. A
third admiral, Rear Adm. George W. Davis VI, came in for less stringent
criticism and has been reassigned from his position as Naval inspector
general.

But in a surprise move, O'Keefe said that he continues to have "complete
confidence" in Navy Under Secretary J. Daniel Howard, and has decided to
keep him on as the Navy's second-in-command, despite the inspector
general's finding that Howard failed completely to take control of the
investigation.

O'Keefe also announced the reorganization of the Navy's investigative
services to streamline their mission and put them under closer supervision
from top civilian authority.

Release of the findings Thursday set the stage for the next turn in the
Tailhook saga -- a report that will reconstruct details of what happened
last September at the infamous Las Vegas convention, and who did what.

While that report is certain to include more sensational details, the one
issued Thursday in many ways provides more insight into the atmosphere and
attitudes many believe led to the incidents at Tailhook.

Williams, commander of the naval investigative service and the officer who
most directly oversaw the investigation, repeatedly expressed desire to end
the probe and on one occasion, told a Navy civilian that he did not believe
women belong in military service, according to the report.

On another occasion, the report said, Williams told assistant Secretary of
the Navy Barbara S. Pope words to the effect that "a lot of female Navy
pilots are go-go dancers, topless dancers or hookers."

Speaking to a junior naval investigator, Williams at one point observed
that a female officer who had come forward with complaints had used profane
language in describing her alleged assault. "Any women who would use the
F-word on a regular basis would welcome this type of activity," the female
investigator quoted Williams as saying.

Davis, the naval inspector general whose task was to investigate
non-criminal aspects of the scandal, told Department of Defense
investigators that he did not interview senior officials who attended the
convention, or identify individuals for disciplinary action, because such
actions would be perceived as a "witch hunt."

Williams' comments, Vander Schaaf concluded, "demonstrated an attitude that
should have caused an examination of his suitability to conduct the
investigation." Vander Schaaf indicated Davis was willing to excuse
officers' tolerance for sexual misconduct by arguing that Navy culture had
been indulgent toward such behavior in the past.

"While it is easy to be sympathetic to the attitude ... it must ultimately
be rejected," the report said. "The time for attributing misconduct of that
nature to a `cultural problem' had long since passed."

In introducing the report, O'Keefe declared tolerance for such attitudes a
thing of the past.

"We get it," O'Keefe said. "We know that the larger issue is a cultural
problem which has allowed demeaning behavior and attitudes towards women to
exist within the Navy Department. Our senior leadership is totally
committed to confronting this problem and demonstrating that sexual
harassment will not be tolerated. Those who don't get the message will be
driven from our ranks."

At the same time, O'Keefe defended the Navy's progress in addressing sexual
harassment problems and its ability to investigate future complaints of
sexual impropriety in its ranks. Several lawmakers have proposed stripping
the Navy and the other armed services of their role in probing sexual
molestation cases.

Williams and Gordon both disputed the report. Williams called it
"fundamentally unfair that I could be tried, convicted and sentenced ...
without due process in a report containing so many inaccuracies and
distortions."

Gordon, who was out of the country at the time those reports were
completed, told The Los Angeles Times on Thursday, the Pentagon
investigation "is flawed and factually incorrect. In the coming days, I
will do everything I can to set the record straight."